I just ordered my FTL 5 from AutoMate, should be arriving next week. 4000 lbs of cast iron to do woodworking! What an overkill but will save my hands. it's only money, can't take it with you.
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I just ordered my FTL 5 from AutoMate, should be arriving next week. 4000 lbs of cast iron to do woodworking! What an overkill but will save my hands. it's only money, can't take it with you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pjblues1
Excellent! Looking forward to seeing pictures!
Did you make a trip to Smithy to see it in person before you bought? What options did you get? What led you to chose this over the LTS5?
Looks like a helluva machine compared to the similarly prices Tormach.
Woodworking??!! Are you sure? Woodworking lathes have big swings for bowls and plates and long center distance for table legs etc. This machine has none of those features. You can get a really nice CNC wood lathe for 7K
https://www.stylecnc.com/wood-lathe/
I did go to Smithy, only about 3 hours from my home. I looked at all of their machines. I just wanted a small CNC lathe with the basics as I am going to use it primarily for wood and plastic turning. I do not have a business, just a hobby situation. It is an overkill but hey, your not taking the money with you.
It will fit my space very well. I actually was able to snag a deal on a demo model off the showroom floor. It has the tool post, tailstock,, several tool holders, and tooling, and I one piece of "live" tooling. We actually made a part on it while I was there. Right beside it was a Tormach Slant 15 that looked immaculate, it was a trade in. I had looked at and came very close to purchasing a Tormach before I went to Smithy. When you consider the features of both including speed and feeds, tooling, and weight, the Automate had it beat.
Mine is due to arrive next week, so I am hoping in a couple of weeks I can produce my first part and post pictures.
I looked at the CNC wood lathes including Laguana's CNC. After I talked with them, it was apparent that bowls would be difficult.
I have a CNC router if I want to turn a large bowl in the vertical plane, I have done it before. Since my accident with a lathe I am only interested in turning small items. Should be fun.
Thanks for your input, I appreciate everyone's comments on the forum.
Very true. I think the LTF-5 and LTS-5 are going to cut into Tormach Slant Pro sales. By the time you add up all the upgrades to the Tormach that are standard on the LTF-5 (enclosure, chuck, tail stock, tooling, auto oiler, light kit), you end up with a price not that far from the LTF-5 ($14.5k vs $15.5k).Quote:
Originally Posted by Pjblues1
Absolute truth. I did the math and for everything that comes with the Automate, it is also a true heavy weight industrial machine. I cannot wait to get mine delivered and setup. I just want to make sure I have the 3 phase hooked up properly.
Will be interesting to see the machine in action- I still can't help but think you are going to have a very limited work envelope for wood and find that 50% of the money you spent is for features you will never use. PS- you are going to need some serious evacuation of the sawdust to keep it out of the rails- better start shopping for an industrial sized vacuum system.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pjblues1
It will have a vacuum system immediately. I don't think the sawdust will affect the rails any differently than plastic would.
So- Delivered? Setup? Making stuff?Quote:
Originally Posted by Pjblues1
It was delivered a couple of weeks ago; he has some pictures of it on the "automate machine tools" facebook group.Quote:
Originally Posted by Norvil l
Hey folks, it is delivered and setup. This machine is so fast on it's rapid moves, it scares me a bit.
I had an issue with the idler 3 phase motor and had to replace it.. American Rotary was great about expediting me a new motor.
I am very carefully learning to program in G code. I am struggling a bit, cannot seem to understand how to straight turn,. I have the facing down but this is different from a CNC router. Anyways, I am just running tests on small pieces of wood at this point. Kade from Automate is making a video for me to help me understand turning techniques. The folks on the FaceBook Automate site have been great and are helping me as well. I am sure I just have to get my head around the code sequence.
I do have a vacuum cleaner I am using to suck the wood chips.
Are you going to set it up with a dust collector to run while it is running? Generally I find that works much better to keep the work area dust free.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pjblues1